Movember Month

Its November, so that means its Movember month. The Movember charity is raising awareness for men’s health which they describe as in a crisis. The campaign main targets are men’s mental health, testicular cancer and prostate cancer.

In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 with 75% of suicides being men. Younger men are also the ones who are more at risk of testicular cancer and men over 45 are more at risk of prostate cancer.

The movement is trying to encourage men to be more vigilant when it comes to these two cancers due to both being easy to detect and treat early on. Prostate cancer has a 98% survival rate if detected early, but only 26% if caught 5 years late.

But recently mental health has taken the attention of the nation due to its high fatality rate in men. By 2030, the charity aim to reduce suicide by 25%. Due to there being no single cause of men’s mental health, making the issue particulary hard to combat.

The Movember campaign has a six-step plan when it comes to mental health. They want to educate men on the issue, trying to get men have a conversation about the matter, provide services that work for men, funding innovative projects, community support, and lastly forcing government action.

LSBU student Danny Lambert has been helping with the Movember campaign at the university for the past 3 years. In an interview with JLDN he said “money is not my motivation, it’s the awareness that I care about, the message.”

He continued, “it’s important to support your brothers and to take them seriously if they are suffering from mental health problems”.

You can donate money to Movember via the website and urges people who are urgent need of mental help to call the Samaritans on 116 123 or call 999 if your life is in immediate danger.